EL PASO, Texas (AP) — A federal judge on Friday said that a powerful Mexican drug cartel leader who was arrested over the summer in the U.S. can be transferred from Texas to New York to face charges there.
The order from U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone in El Paso came after the attorneys for , co-founder of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, said a day earlier that they that had been being requested by federal prosecutors.
Zambada, 76, along with JoaquÃn Guzmán López, a son of notorious drug kingpin JoaquÃn “El Chapo†Guzmán,†after they landed in a private plane at an airport near El Paso. They are charged in the U.S. with various drug crimes and remain jailed.
Zambada, who faces charges in multiple locales, has , where he pleaded not guilty to various drug trafficking charges.
Cardone said in her order that he would complete the proceedings in New York before any further proceedings were held in Texas.
The elder Guzmán was of drug and conspiracy charges in New York and in prison.
In New York, Zambada is charged with running a continuing criminal enterprise, murder conspiracy, drug offenses and other crimes.
Zambada in his home country en route to what he thought was a meeting with a Mexican official.
JoaquÃn Guzmán López, a son of notorious drug kingpin “El Chapo,†pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking and other charges Tuesday, days after an astonishing capture in the U.S.
Guzmán López has appeared in federal court in Chicago, where he has to drug trafficking and other charges.
